“Is tha’ your wee dog there?” – a yell across the car park. It’s Pam Brunton, head chef at Inver arriving for the morning shift. “I’ve got to show her to ma’ chefs,” she says, crouching down to ruffle Tonka’s ears.

Moules marinière is a real treat – most of all though, it’s not crazy expensive and it’s so easy to make. The trickiest part by far is finding the mussels to cook. I live in the East End – home of the eel and mash…but no mussels – yet when I visit my parents in…

I was brought up in Leicester. So you can imagine my shock when I went to India, and realised that Indian food was nothing like the ‘indians’ of my childhood. No luminous, heavy sauces and surprisingly few meaty curries. The food wasn’t one-dimensionally hot and spicy, but complex spiciness – fruity or delicate, or herbal…

Right now, the Oxbridge boys preparing for the boat race will be knocking back 6,000 calories a day. If you think that’s a lot, then Michael Phelps regularly wolfs down 10,000 calories a day which is a feat in itself.

Passover was a bit of a fiasco in my final year at university. As the only one with a car, I drove my Jewish housemate to the shops to help him stock up with easy-to-prepare food. It would be fair to say that cooking was not his strong point, so I helped him find some…

Meet Rachel

Hello, I'm Rachel Walker, an editor and food writer across national publications. If you’re interested in reading my cuttings, then click here →This blog is a little online space which I set up in 2011, to record some of my favourite recipes and experiments – from smoking salmon in a dustbin, to bringing lambs' tongues. Read more about my culinary adventures by clicking here →